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2005 Winter Conditioning (official thread)

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Ok I have another scenerio for you guys. Maybe Zwick didn't grade out like Tressel thought he would during the Alamo bowl? You think that could be a reason why Tressel is also trying to keep it open that Troy could start the season? It seems like Tressel knows who the better QB's is but is rather hesitant to say because he doesn't know smiths future? what you guys think?
 
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bukIpower said:
Ok I have another scenerio for you guys. Maybe Zwick didn't grade out like Tressel thought he would during the Alamo bowl? You think that could be a reason why Tressel is also trying to keep it open that Troy could start the season? It seems like Tressel knows who the better QB's is but is rather hesitant to say because he doesn't know smiths future? what you guys think?
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Nope that's not it. How could Zwick have not graded out well? The man's playing on a bad wheel, and does what it takes to get the W. Grant it, he didn't do it alone,but, if there's one game where Coach would grade Zwick poorly, it wouldn't be the Alaml Bowl.
 
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I believe it is the role of Joe Daniels, as position coach, to grade the QBs. Also there are about 45 practices between now and the Miami game. Practice tape is graded as well as game tape.
IronBuckI said:
Nope that's not it. How could Zwick have not graded out well? The man's playing on a bad wheel, and does what it takes to get the W. Grant it, he didn't do it alone,but, if there's one game where Coach would grade Zwick poorly, it wouldn't be the Alaml Bowl.
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He didn't grade poorly by any means, but I think people are giving Zwick a little bit too much credit. He had all day to pass (horrible pass rush) against poor coverage and he still almost messed up the wide open TD pass to Gonzo (who rescued it out of the dirt).

As I said in my other post about smith, Zwick showed heart playing thru the injury and gained respect with his teammates, but this wasn't a great performance that blew them away. It was moreso a change from the poor performances by Zwick in the past.

I don't think Tressel & the team should be sold on Zwick after one game where he was not under much pressure. Zwick often played scared during the season, but there were no blitzers, sub QBs, or close games to make him emotional during this game. If Smith game continues to improve over the spring the way it did during the season, I think there is a chance we could see Smith against Texas.

Most people seem sold that Tressel would not go with Smith against Texas. I definitely understand that viewpoint and think its a logical one, but also think that Tressel is extremely loyal to whomever he thinks is The Guy and if he feels that is Smith than he will play in the Texas game. Keep in mind how much more success McMullen had in 03 when Tressel would yank him for an ailing Krenzel (ie Michigan).

Zwick has had one solid but not great performance in the Alamo bowl against a weak opponent, whereas he faltered nearly all season when he faced a challenge. Smith on the other hand, developed slowly but was not making the same mistakes early on, and ran an extremely effective offense against Purdue (it was effective tho a little error prone, the lateral was a mistake but 2 of the INTs were not his fault) & Michigan.

I guess I just didn't see a great dropback passing game out of Zwick. I saw a tough game that changed the way I felt about him a little, but not enough to put my faith in him over our former leader of this team. If holmes comment is merely one small tidbit blown out of proportion and Smith is still regarded as a leader on teh team, I think it should still be his job against Texas.
 
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none of these 'experts' seemed to pick up on the offensiveline changes that started after the iowa game. maybe we should start with the boys up front...no one seems to want to give them credit. granted the coach changed but so did the personel. barton and downing really played well down the stretch and rehring seemed to come on also.
 
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It was argued to death in another thread, and the offensive line was brought up quite a bit. The massive improvement on the line protected the QB and created a running game. Also, Ginn & Gonzo weren't really around for Zwick (Ginn played but was still learning and struggled to get off the line against bump-n-run).

Either way, I think our defense won the alamo bowl by itself. We also had a lot of drives where we had to settle for FGs against a not great defense.
 
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Hard to believe, but I think Smith will have the job solidly in his grasp by the second game of the season. Texas will come out and play tough D. While Zwick is a solid QB, he is not by any means spectacular. Smith's athleticism will be sorely missed against a fast and athletic texas defensive line. After three drives, that's when you will see Tressel inserting Smith into the line-up.
 
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Yep, what OSU needs to beat Texas is an athletic QB. After all, that is what Oklahoma has used the past 6 years. :wink2: On a serious note, IMO the Texas defense will be the best group of defensive athletes the Buckeyes will face all year. The OSU offense cannot rely on the QB to win this game. It will need to be a team effort - everybody must show up. The receivers, the line, the RBs, the defense - everybody. If the outcome of the game is dependent solely on the QB, we lose.
 
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Oklahoma did not have a scrambler at QB, but I would argue that Oklahoma has a much better ground attack than Ohio State. And there's no debate which OL has been better over the past six years.

I don't think you can ever downplay the importance of the QB play in a big game like this, especially for a team that does not have an established rushing attack. Defense alone is not gonna win us this game guys, Texas has too many athletes for that. Again, I contend that Smith is a much better play maker than Zwick, and we sure need a hell of a performance from him to beat a great team like Texas.
 
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Very good points guys. I want to see Troy play most the game for the Texas night game, but if this is a two game suspension I just don't know if it will happen?? Also I never said that Zwick graded out poorly but just wondering if maybe that could be a case? Because I've remembered numerous times where I thought a player played great (Troy Smith against Michigan St.) and he still came away with a failing grade.


One more quick point is that maybe the buckeyes could benefit with Zwick starting the season off as the starter. Lets say Zwick plays the first game. That would make Texas gameplan for a more of a pocket type of passer, and if you throw Smith in the game its a comlete change of plans and packages. The same can be said if you go from smith to zwick. IMO Texas has alot to account for with Ginn, Gonzo, Holmes,Hamby, pittman or haw or Wells, Smith, Zwick, and perhaps frost or Nicol? Right now I think OSU is much harder to game plan for rather than Texas. With Texas you just have to Stop Young from running the ball.
 
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Agreed. I have often wondered if Tressel has been handling the issue properly to have Smith be able to be "the guy" and somewhat surprise Texas. They're too good of a school not to plan for him, but it makes it harder if Tressel isn't as public about who he's gonna pick. Cuz leaving it ambiguous forces them to spend a tiny bit more time preparing for a zwick like attack (which not only is a slightly different passing style, but also will be more run based since Zwick can't do the same type of QB keepers, nor will he gain as much positive yardage on passing plays that are well covered).

All I have to say is Tressel is by far the greatest coach I have ever heard at handling PR (tho admittedly I enjoy hearing the Bobby Knight's go nuts a lot more). The guy has surgical precision with his words and is never caught off base. Someone said it earlier in this thread, it is truly remarkable that he has never been trapped despite the onslaught of nasty and ill-intended questions from reporters during the scandals at tOSU recently. This guy is not invited to any poker games around the neighborhood; he'd smoke everyone.
 
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In response to the person that stated Tressel sticks with the person he feels is "the guy," I know for a fact that Tressel told Zwick prior to the press luncheon after the Iowa game that he was still the starter no matter what (this was after he separated his shoulder for those that don't remember). Well now it seems that that has changed to Troy being the guy even despite his suspension. Tressel plays whomever he feels gives the team the best chance to win. And though tons of people on here feel Smith is that guy and others feel Zwick is, only Tressel makes that final call. And we have plenty of time between now and Miami and still haven't heard from the NCAA. So only time will tell.
 
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if u really want to get technical about the pic of zwick and t smith you can see that snith is actually ahead of zwick because zwick is just planting the right foot to push off whereas smith is already off and moved but that pretty much just proves what we already knew that smith is quicker than zwick
 
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Troy Smith is thick

I played against Troy's team in Inturmural Bball and he is a lot thicker than I ever would have thought. Teddy Ginn and Marcel Frost were also on his team and Teddy is as fast as advertised. It felt good beating a potential heisman even if it's not in football.
 
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If indeed this is a true statement, you should take photos of one fo their games and post them here. We'd all love to see pics of this fact... sorry if I'm a little suspicious but there's too many out there that would make this up just to sound cool. How would you stop ginn on an inbound play, or as he flew around the court getting picks set for him? Or is he just at shooting?
 
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